Qatar bourse index ends in the green

January 07, 2014 - 8:51:00 am

DOHA: Supported by a hunt for high-dividend stocks, Qatar Exchange continued its bullish run yesterday. Qatari index was the second strongest performer in the Gulf yesterday, after Abu Dhabi, rising 1.13 percent to cross the high 10,784 points, highest close since August 2008. Market cap rose to QR570bn from the prior trading session’s QR566bn.

The entire sector indices ended in green with the insurance counters surging the most by 4.05 percent. Telecom stocks edged 1.36 percent and the real estate advanced 1.27 percent. The banking and financial services was up 0.82 percent, while the consumer goods and services index gained 0.92 percent.

Ahli Bank helped lead a charge in the banking and financial services sector followed by QIB which closed up2.55 percent. Commercial Bank of Qatar climbed 2.10 percent while International Islamic rose 1.89 percent.

“Qatar’s move is seasonal because of the dividends but the decent bids we’re seeing at this stage is partly an element of rotation,” Reuters quoted Amer Khan, head of asset management at Shuaa Asset Management as saying. “If you see money coming out of the UAE, you’d see it naturally parking in Qatar at this time.”